Genus Paurostauria Kirby, 1900

Museums

Regional Maps

• Paurostauria Kirby, W.F. 1900. Homoptera. pp. 130-138 in Andrews, C.W. (ed.). A Monograph of Christmas Island (Indian Ocean): physical features and geology; with descriptions of the fauna and flora by numerous contributors. London : British Museum (Natural History) xiii 337 pp. [132].

  Type species:

   Paurostauria delicata Kirby, 1900 by monotypy.

Introduction

This genus is unknown to the author of these pages despite examination of a large collection of Auchenorrhyncha from Christmas Island in ANIC. The original description does not provide comparative notes with other genera even though this is not the only ricaniid to occur on the island. Ricania flavifrontalis Kirby was described in the same publication as Paurostauria. The generic affinities of both species need to be re-examined. The genus was included in keys to world genera of Ricaniidae published by Melichar (1923) which helped Fletcher (2008) include the genus in his electronic key to the Australian genera at http://www1.dpi.nsw.gov.au/keys/fulgor/ricaniidae/ric00.htm.

Distribution

Other Regions

Christmas Island terrestrial & freshwater

Diagnosis

Front quadrangular, broader than long, slightly expanded below, and with a central carina. Vertex transverse, about three times as broad as long, and gradually concave behind. Pronotum curved, transverse, mesonotum oval, tricarinate, rather long. Tegmina hyaline, very broad at the extremity, the costa slightly arched, much longer than the inner margin, which is a little shorter than the hind margin. Apex much rounded, and hind margin curving obliquely to the hinder angle, which is obtusely rounded; inner margin convex. Costal cell with oblique transverse nervules; subcostal cell free; basal cell oval, broader than long. Three longitudinal nervures running from the basal cell, the upper one forked close to its base, and the branches again forking at about half their length, and ultimately throwing off long forks to the hind margin. The middle nervure forks a little further from the base, and once or twice more before or near the middle of its length; the lower nervure forks only once, at about half its length. An obsolete nervure curves round inwards from the costa at three-fourths of its length to the base of the first fork of the lower branch of the middle longitudinal nervure. Before the apex of the tegmen is a large black stigma, and the marginal area, which is rather broad, is marked off by a row of pale nervules between the nervures. The clavus throws off a vein of about half the rest of its length near the base, which curves to the inner margin; between and beyond are several transverse nervules. Wings hyaline, much shorter than the tegmina, the three upper longitudinal nervures variously forked, and connected by two oblique transverse nervures. Hind tibiae bispinose (Kirby 1900).

ID Keys

Fletcher, M.J. (2008) Illustrated Key to the Described Genera of the family Ricaniidae found in Australia (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha) http://www1.dpi.nsw.gov.au/keys/fulgor/ricaniidae/ric00.htm

Diagnosis References

Kirby, W.F. 1900. Homoptera. pp. 130-138 in Andrews, C.W. (ed.). A Monograph of Christmas Island (Indian Ocean): physical features and geology; with descriptions of the fauna and flora by numerous contributors. London : British Museum (Natural History) xiii 337 pp. [132]

General References

Melichar, L. 1923. Homoptera. Fam. Acanaloniidae, Flatidae et Ricaniidae. Genera Insectorum 182: 1-185 [121–123]

History of changes